SIT gives clean chit to Modi in Gulberg case

A day after the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing 2002 riots, filed its final report in the Gulberg Society case, a local court, Thursday, is expected to go into its details, amid reports that Chief Minister Narendra Modi has been given a clean chit.

The metropolitan magistrate will take cognizance of the SIT report and set up date for the hearing in the case. The court may also issue notices to the investigating team and the petitioner Zakia Jafri for the same.

Media reports suggest that the SIT report has found evidence of Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s alleged role in the case.

The report was submitted, yesterday, in a sealed envelope by SIT officials in a magisterial court here as directed by the Supreme court.

Zakia Jafri - her husband, ex-MLA Eshan Jafri, was killed by a mob at their Gulberg society home - had moved the petition seeking prosecution of Narendra Modi in the case.

On September 12, 2011, in a relief to Narendra Modi, the Supreme Court had ruled that a trial court would hear the petition by Zakia Jafri, who alleged deliberate inaction on the part of the Gujarat Chief Minister in the killing of her husband Ehsan Jafri and dozens of others in Ahmedabad's Gulberg Society during the 2002 riots.

The plea by Jafri, also alleged inaction on the part of Modi's cabinet colleagues and some high-ranking state officials.

The court said the magistrate, before deciding on the complaint, would give her afford an opportunity to be heard.

The court had also asked the special investigation team (SIT) headed by former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director RK Raghvan to file its status report before the concerned magistrate.

The amicus curiae Raju Ramachandran report, which differed with the findings of the SIT, was also referred to the magistrate.

After that, the magistrate was to take a final call on the alleged involvement of people named in the FIR.

Emboldened by the Supreme Court’s ruling, Modi had tweeted, ‘God is great’.

The apex court in 2009 had earlier handed over the task of probing the case to SIT which submitted its report in 2011.

SC decision on plea for probe against Chidambaram today

The Supreme Court will Today pronounce its judgements on the petitions seeking a direction for a probe into the alleged role of Home Minister P Chidambaram in the 2G spectrum scam and for cancellation of 122 radiowave licences granted during the tenure of A Raja as Telecom Minister.

The SC will also deliver its judgment on another plea for setting up a a special investigation team (SIT) in view of the “slipshod” probe conducted by the CBI in the 2G case.

The judgements will be pronounced by a bench comprising justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly which had reserved its verdict on the plea for probe against Chidambaram and for cancellation of licences of spectrum on October 10 and March 17 respectively last year.

The unanimous verdicts on both the petitions would be pronounced by Justice Singhvi.

Since Justice Ganguly is retiring Thursday, he will be sitting in a bench headed by Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia.

The petitions on both the issues were filed by NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) and a petitioner.

The role of Chidambaram in the 2G scam was raised in the Supreme Court by the petitioners who had pointed out that there was evidence on record showing that the decision regarding pricing of spectrum was taken jointly by him and Raja.

A Finance Ministry note to the PMO signed by Pranab Mukherjee was also taken on record by the apex court in which it was stated that the scam could have been averted had Chidambram suggested the policy of auction instead of first-come-first-served policy on allocation of spectrum.

The Centre and CBI had vehemently opposed any probe against Chidambram who was the Finance Minister at the time of allotment of spectrum in 2008.

They had maintained that Chidambaram was not in direct communication with the then Telecom Minister A Raja in determining the price of the radio waves.

However, the petitioners had refuted the claims of CBI and the Centre that Chidambaram was not in the picture till January, 10, 2008, when the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) headed by Raja issued 122 Letters of Intent (LoIs) to telecom companies without following the policy of auction.

The petitioners including CPIL's counsel Prashant Bhushan had contended Chidambaram was "consistently" informed of what was going on and "till November 30, 2007, Chidambaram was apprised of what Raja was upto".

They further said the Finance Ministry officials were for allocation of spectrum through auction but they were overruled by Chidambaram.